I’m a female restaurant server who has worked in the industry for over 17 years. I make a decent living off my tips — $35 an hour on average. I’ve had my fair share of creepy customers who have said inappropriate things. But this behavior isn’t unique to restaurants and it has nothing to do with tipping or tip credits.

Through eliminating our current tipping system and forcing restaurant owners to pay all servers a higher-base wage, the Restaurant Opportunities Center believes somehow sexual harassment for female servers will disappear. This is an absurd claim. In fact, it’s not even supported by the organization’s own research, which found that a strong majority of female tipped employees disagree that tipping leads them to tolerate bad behavior.

The only thing that eliminating the tip credit will do is harm the restaurant industry and the people who work in it. Don’t believe me? Look at San Francisco. In response to a higher minimum wage and no tip credit, a Harvard Business School study showed an increase in restaurant closures. How does this empower females and combat sexual harassment when they are forced to take a cut in pay or potentially even lose their job?

Jennifer Schellenberg

Minneapolis, MN

A founder of the Restaurant Workers of America (RWA), an employee advocacy organization dedicated to the preservation of tip income.